The wisdom of peace and the absurdity of fighting are demonstrated in seventeen stories and poems by outstanding authors of today such as Jean Fritz, Milton Meltzer, and Nancy Willard, illustrated by famous illustrators such as Paul Zelinsky, the Dillons, and Maurice Sendak.

Summary

The wisdom of peace and the absurdity of fighting are demonstrated in seventeen stories and poems by outstanding authors of today such as Jean Fritz, Milton Meltzer, and Nancy Willard, illustrated by famous illustrators such as Paul Zelinsky, the Dillons, and Maurice Sendak.

Author Notes

Marilyn Sachs was born Marilyn Stickle in the Bronx, New York on December 18, 1927. She graduated from Hunter College in 1949 and became a children's librarian trainee at the Brooklyn Public Library. She worked there for a decade while earning her master's of library science degree at Columbia University. She later worked part-time at the San Francisco Public Library before becoming a full-time author for middle grade and young adult readers in 1968.

Her first novel, Amy Moves In, was published in 1964. Her other books included Veronica Ganz, The Bears' House, The Fat Girl, A Pocket Full of Seeds, and Lost in America. She was a co-editor with Ann Durell of the anthology The Big Book for Peace, which provided proceeds to peace organizations. She died on December 28, 2016 at the age of 89.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this era of glasnost and breathtakingly rapid political change, it's hard to imagine a more timely and welcome book for children. The range of material included under the general umbrella of ``peace'' is wide, and includes original fables, poems, biographies, illustrations, etc. from such distinguished contributors as Katherine Paterson, Maurice Sendak, Lois Lowry and Jerry Pinkney. The stories about the roots of war are told on a scale that children can grasp: envy between two girls in neighboring treehouses escalates into a cold war; a pair of princes squabble over their turf and eventually destroy each other's kingdoms. Equally useful for home, library or classroom--where more and more teachers are including units on peace--this thoughtfully written, attractively designed volume is a winner in every way. Royalties will be donated to a selection of organizations that champion world peace. Ages 7-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

A pantheon of 34 artists and writers come together in an anthology that is both useful and inspiring. Some authors have produced works from real life, as in Jean Fritz' moving story of an Inuit people triumphing over Cold War separation and Milton Meltzer's tale about a Quaker's tragic predicament during the Civil War. Others have written stories. Lloyd Alexander contributes one about the progressively disasterous series of misunderstandings between two princes; Lois Lowry relates the story of the resolution of a rivalry between two friends. Poetry is contributed by Myra Cohen Livingston. Illustrations inspired by the text or the theme are scattered throughout the book: Steven Kellogg does his own version of ``A Peaceable Kingdom''; Ben Shecter's charcoal image hauntingly mirrors Charlotte Zolotow's poem ``Enemies''; Marc Simont's full-page series of paintings provide a punchline for Marilyn Sachs' ``I Was There.'' Some of the prose is more obviously and schematically didactic than the rest, a problem that afflicts the fiction more than the nonfiction. Yoshiko Uchida contributes a powerful ``Letter from a Concentration Camp,'' but never says whether it is a work especially done for the book or a replication of an actual letter, which does confuse somewhat. Fundamentally, however, this is an exemplary collection. Inspired by an angry children's librarian who was offended by the popularity of books on war, Sachs and Durrell have come up with a powerful, well-done answer. --Christine Behrmann, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.